Upgrade from Asus P5-AD2E Premium?

[Kenjutsu]

I want to upgrade from my trusty old P5-AD2E Premium to something more powerful. I know with the new Core i7 tech released, it probably does not make sense to go for a LGA775-based upgrade, but the new Core i7 tech is just to expensive.

I am looking for a new MB and CPU for not more than R2,500. I will be re-using my 7600GT, 4 x 1Gb DDRII-800 sticks, SB Audigy 2 sound card, SATA HDDs, optical drives, etc. Since I have a Netburst room warmer CPU, I water cooled it, so if I can get a WC-friendly MB, that will be great

Any suggestions?

[Frozenfireside]

You could get an AMD setup and it would be a massive improvement on the current setup. Tri core and a very very decent mobo for the money.

I'll hand you over to the AMD knowitalls

[Kenjutsu]

I saw the following post here on the forum: http://forums.pcformat.co.za/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=34974

The Biostar board looks like a winner!

[Kenjutsu]

It would seem as if the cheapest compatible CPU will be the Intel Pentium Dual-Core E5200 2.5GHz 2MB 800Mhz FSB LGA775 Processor.

Now my only concern is whether the WC will fit...

[Prime]

Well the cpu cooler mounting will be the same for an lga775 board. You won't easily find a board with wc northbridge for under 3 grand, probably more like 4 grand. But for a few hundred, you can wc the northbridge if you want. Thats not really my field of expertise though.

You could get an e7200 for about 700 rand new, iirc depending on where you get it from. Prophecy had good pricing on them. As does digitalsaonline.

[Kenjutsu]

I e-mailed Landmark Computers about stock availability on the Biostar board, and was informed that it is discontinued.

My next option is now the Asus P5KPL/1600 IG31

[Frozenfireside]

Just get a P5Q.
Its like R1500 and clocks so well.